I made some prompts which I’m using to help me become more confident speaking to strangers. Today’s prompt was **‘Start a conversation with a stranger & focus on your posture’**.
**Before:**
So I’m quite tall, so this is something I’m semi aware of anyway. Not the most exciting prompt I’ve ever been given but still, a good opportunity to focus on a key part of interacting with strangers and giving a strong presence.
**Experience:**
So I ended up having 2 conversations with strangers.
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1. I saw a man struggling to talk so offered him a hand. He said he was fine, thanked me and went on his way. Not really anything to do with posture but I was still conscious of it, made an effort and felt good about at least offering.
2. Instead of going to self checkout, I went to the cashier and tried to force a chat to no avail. As I was talking, I noticed that my posture actually softens which was surprising. Definitely something I’m going to keep an eye out for future.
**Thoughts:**
Pleasantly surprised that my posture can be made better for interactions in future.
**If you have any thoughts/ideas for prompts which I could use to slowgress towards confidence with strangers then lmk.**
2 comments
I think I’ve noticed similar things with my posture. I have horrible posture to begin with, and tend to hunch my shoulders forward. But I think people equate good posture and an ‘open’ stance (shoulders back, chest out) with confidence, which makes sense to me. I feel like my requests are taken more seriously if my posture is good, even if it makes me way taller than the person I’m talking to (which is likely, as I’m a 5’9 woman)
Yes, WHAT you say matters less than HOW you say it. So in your cashier example (great job on that btw!) you make eye contact and light up a big smile. Then give a greeting with a bit of positive social energy. That gets the interaction off to a great start!
Glad you started this thread on posture, that DOES make a difference!